Oil major ExxonMobil has announced that its lubrication blending and packing plants have received Zero Waste to Landfill Silver validation from UL, a global safety consulting and certification company. The global network of plants manufactures Mobil-branded products for Mobil stockists.
Having previously produced around 50,000 tons of waste per year, ExxonMobil identified ways to divert more than 90% of this away from landfill sites. The company claims the waste is now being reused in applications that will benefit both the economy and the environment.
ExxonMobil’s global lubricant operations manager, Terry Neal, emphasised the company’s commitment to minimising its operations’ impact on the environment, adding that:
“Achieving UL’s Zero Waste to Landfill at the silver level is an accomplishment toward our goal to ‘Protect Tomorrow. Today.’ and further demonstrates our commitment to bring all consumers high quality solutions to meet their business objectives.”
In achieving this validation, ExxonMobil began looking at the waste management for its lubrication plants in 2012. It found 14 forms of waste from these plants that could be diverted from landfills, either because they could be recycled or reused, or even avoided completely. By 2015, the company had implemented its new waste management programme throughout its global network of lubrication plants.
The Zero Waste to Landfill programme is run by UL to validate companies’ claims about waste diversion and enable easy comparison between companies. It requires at least 90% of a company’s waste to be diverted from landfill and incineration to a method other than waste to energy.
